Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Artist Statement
This case study attempted to better understand local attitudes of public flood interventions and their individual responses to flood risks on a remote barrier island—Grand Isle, Louisiana.
People have lived Grand Isle for over a century and the island has been an efficient community for tourism, seafood, and petroleum in the past. However, today’s residents are confronting social and environmental challenges that early settlers of the island did not experience. For example, oilfield employment on the island has dwindled and seafood workers are facing challenges within the surrounding natural environment. Both industries are now having to compete within the globalized marketplace for employment and income. In addition, Grand Isle residents have experienced two of the worst environmental disasters in United States history. Their lives were forever changed after the seven mile long barrier island took the brunt of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as well as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Many young residents are now moving off of the island to find employment or educational opportunities elsewhere. Still and all, the tourism industry sustains the town’s economy with opportunities for visitors to bird watch, attend fishing tournaments, enjoy local seafood, visit the beach, and meet local residents.
In person interviews with fourteen full-time residents discussed public flood interventions and individual responses to flood risk on the island. Community responses to flooding involves numerous projects over the past half century designed to protect developments from hurricanes, high tides, coastal and shoreline erosion and frequent flooding. Levee systems, rock jetties, and drainage pumps have been constructed on and around the island to oppose these environmental hazards. According to the residents I interviewed, these systems may sometimes cause more harm than good. This depends on a number of factors: direction and strength of the storm, amount of rainfall, level of tidal surge, and technical damages to the levee or pump stations. With regards to individual responses to flooding, interviewees discussed unique behaviors of flood preparation. For example, some residents have elevated their homes while others did not for reasons like: unaffordable insurance rates, age of the house, and a preference to keep original living quarters downstairs. Overall, the public flood interventions and personal experiences to several hazards has allowed Grand Islanders to continue their residency on this vulnerable landscape.
Experienced vulnerability continues to be a theoretical concept of focus for sociologists, geographers, and environmental scientists. When considering the social and environmental impacts of vulnerability on a population like Grand Isle, I expect my findings to relate to other communities confronting challenges to flooding. My research findings may also contribute to coastal risk planning and management that incorporates social and cultural knowledge of local residents. This is important for learning what has been done, assessing what has been helpful, and changing what has not worked to make a significant difference in decreasing community exposure.
Mentor Name
Teresa Sobieszczyk
Community and Individual Responses to Flooding on Louisiana's Last Inhabited Barrier Island
UC North Ballroom, Presentation Pod 1
This case study attempted to better understand local attitudes of public flood interventions and their individual responses to flood risks on a remote barrier island—Grand Isle, Louisiana.
People have lived Grand Isle for over a century and the island has been an efficient community for tourism, seafood, and petroleum in the past. However, today’s residents are confronting social and environmental challenges that early settlers of the island did not experience. For example, oilfield employment on the island has dwindled and seafood workers are facing challenges within the surrounding natural environment. Both industries are now having to compete within the globalized marketplace for employment and income. In addition, Grand Isle residents have experienced two of the worst environmental disasters in United States history. Their lives were forever changed after the seven mile long barrier island took the brunt of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as well as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Many young residents are now moving off of the island to find employment or educational opportunities elsewhere. Still and all, the tourism industry sustains the town’s economy with opportunities for visitors to bird watch, attend fishing tournaments, enjoy local seafood, visit the beach, and meet local residents.
In person interviews with fourteen full-time residents discussed public flood interventions and individual responses to flood risk on the island. Community responses to flooding involves numerous projects over the past half century designed to protect developments from hurricanes, high tides, coastal and shoreline erosion and frequent flooding. Levee systems, rock jetties, and drainage pumps have been constructed on and around the island to oppose these environmental hazards. According to the residents I interviewed, these systems may sometimes cause more harm than good. This depends on a number of factors: direction and strength of the storm, amount of rainfall, level of tidal surge, and technical damages to the levee or pump stations. With regards to individual responses to flooding, interviewees discussed unique behaviors of flood preparation. For example, some residents have elevated their homes while others did not for reasons like: unaffordable insurance rates, age of the house, and a preference to keep original living quarters downstairs. Overall, the public flood interventions and personal experiences to several hazards has allowed Grand Islanders to continue their residency on this vulnerable landscape.
Experienced vulnerability continues to be a theoretical concept of focus for sociologists, geographers, and environmental scientists. When considering the social and environmental impacts of vulnerability on a population like Grand Isle, I expect my findings to relate to other communities confronting challenges to flooding. My research findings may also contribute to coastal risk planning and management that incorporates social and cultural knowledge of local residents. This is important for learning what has been done, assessing what has been helpful, and changing what has not worked to make a significant difference in decreasing community exposure.